In his presentation titled “Seeds of Storytelling,” Shuzo John Shiota, President and CEO of Polygon Pictures, shared his insights on Japan’s animation success during the ASEAN Digital Content Summit 2025. His company, founded in 1983, holds the title as the world’s longest-running CG animation studio with international branches in Malaysia and India, and has produced award-winning shows like Transformers Prime and Stillwater.
Shiota, who describes himself as an “intercultural kid” who grew up in the United States before returning to Japan, brought a unique perspective to his analysis. He emphasized that he is “not an artist by training” and worked in another field for six and a half years before entering the animation industry, offering an outsider’s view on what makes Japanese storytelling so compelling.
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Japan’s Animation Industry
The Japanese animation industry has experienced explosive growth, doubling its value to approximately $22.8 billion USD over the past decade. This remarkable expansion demonstrates the global appetite for Japanese animated content, with more than 51% of the industry’s revenue now coming from international markets.
Japan’s production output is staggering, creating around 300 anime series and 80 animated films annually. This prolific content creation is supported by a rich ecosystem of existing intellectual property, with over 73% of new anime adaptations coming from manga, light novels, and games. This creates a self-sustaining cycle where successful stories across different media formats feed into each other, building larger entertainment franchises.
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The economic impact extends far beyond direct sales figures. Major Japanese franchises like Pokémon and Dragon Ball have become global cultural phenomena, generating billions in merchandise, licensing deals, and tourism revenue. These properties have transformed from simple entertainment into lifestyle brands that influence fashion, gaming, and pop culture worldwide.
Cultural Roots of Japanese Storytelling
Shiota presented his theory on why Japan excels at storytelling, pointing to several unique cultural factors:
Long History and Cultural Isolation: Japan’s remarkable 2,685-year history as a sovereign nation provided deep cultural roots for storytelling traditions. The period of near-complete isolation from 1639 to 1853, known as sakoku, was particularly crucial. During these 220 years of limited foreign contact, Japan developed highly distinctive artistic styles and cultural expressions, including ukiyo-e woodblock prints that continue to influence modern anime and manga aesthetics.
Deep Relationship with Nature: Japan’s location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” means the population constantly experiences the awesome power of nature through earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. This has created a fundamental cultural relationship with natural forces, leading to the Shinto belief system where gods and spirits are believed to inhabit all things – from mountains and rivers to everyday objects. This animistic worldview explains the Japanese tendency to personify everything, creating endless possibilities for characters and stories from the most mundane elements of daily life.
Philosophy of Impermanence: The concept of “mono no aware” – finding beauty in temporary moments like falling cherry blossoms – adds emotional depth to Japanese stories. This cultural understanding adds layers of empathy, melancholy, and emotional depth that permeates Japanese storytelling, making characters and narratives more relatable and emotionally resonant.
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Visual Language: Japanese writing uses three different scripts at once, including picture-based kanji characters. Shiota suggests this trains Japanese minds to process text and images together naturally, making visual storytelling feel more natural. This linguistic foundation removes the mental barrier between reading traditional books and reading manga, making visual storytelling an accepted and natural medium for all age groups, not just children.
Safe Environment: Japan’s safety allows children to explore independently from a young age. This unsupervised time provides crucial space for young imaginations to develop and flourish, creating a generation of people comfortable with creative thinking and fantasy scenarios.
Entertainment Innovation, Advice for Creators, and Impact
Shiota highlighted Polygon Pictures’ recent project Hypnosis Mic, which features rap battles where audiences can vote in real-time through an app to influence the story. This interactive approach has led to high success and repeat viewings, showing how traditional storytelling can evolve with technology.
When asked about advice for young creators, Shiota emphasized finding authentic story ideas rather than formal training. He noted that many successful people in animation are self-taught through passion and studying existing work. On the topic of AI in animation, Shiota takes a practical approach. While personally uncomfortable with AI, he sees it as necessary to control rising production costs. He suggests using AI for routine work (about 80% of tasks) while human artists focus on the creative elements that make the biggest difference.
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Shiota described the animation industry as constantly challenging but emotionally rewarding for those who stick with it. He believes successful leadership comes from reading the company’s rhythm and staying aligned with market trends. Popular Japanese franchises like Pokémon and Dragon Ball have become worldwide phenomena, significantly boosting tourism to Japan and creating massive economic impact beyond just entertainment revenue.
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Shiota concluded that storytelling thrives in societies with long histories, respect for nature, tolerance for diverse ideas, and safe environments for imagination to grow. He encouraged during the conference that creators should recognize that everyone has unique stories based on their personal experiences.
AloJapan.com